


Movie Nights or Five Times Jonny Wanted Popcorn (and One Time He Didn’t)

by CoffeeKristin



Series: Just an Old Fashioned Love Song or Five Times Jonny and Patrick Didn't Play Hockey (and One Time They Did) [5]
Category: Hockey RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-02
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-28 18:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7652653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeKristin/pseuds/CoffeeKristin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick had only been working at the movie theater a few weeks when a noisy bunch of boys from his high school burst through the doors just before the last showing of <i>Captain America: Civil War</i> and come tumbling into the lobby, whooping it up. He sighed and put down the containers of popcorn he was counting, mentally preparing himself for the asshattery he was likely to endure.</p><p>“What can I get you?” he asked the crowd, and true to form, no one was listening so he waited another moment. Finally one of the boys got pushed to the front, stumbling into the counter. “Fuck, Duncs, not so hard,” he said, and oh. That was Jonathan Toews: Captain of the high school soccer team, president of the student council, son of the mayor. Basically, everything Patrick wasn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Movie Nights or Five Times Jonny Wanted Popcorn (and One Time He Didn’t)

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to the expert and wicked-fast beta by [celtprincess](http://archiveofourown.org/users/celtprincess13/pseuds/celtprincess13) and the beta/general awesomeness of the always lovely Katie aka [Frosting50](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Frosting50/pseuds/Frosting50), who added ONE PARAGRAPH and made the whole fic so much better. Truly, if you like this, thank her, because it's entirely to her credit that it's any good at all. 
> 
> This is the last non-hockey AU in this series and I'm kinda terrified to write and post the hockey AU... but I promised Madelyn I would FINISH THIS BITCH and even if I didn't get it done in time, this fucker is getting done.

1 _Captain America_

Patrick had only been working at the movie theater a few weeks when a noisy bunch of boys from his high school burst through the doors just before the last showing of _Captain America: Civil War_ and came tumbling into the lobby, whooping it up. He sighed and put down the containers of popcorn he was counting, mentally preparing himself for the asshattery he was likely to endure.

“What can I get you?” he asked the crowd, and true to form, no one was listening so he waited another moment. Finally one of the boys got pushed to the front, stumbling into the counter. “Fuck, Duncs, not so hard,” he said, and oh. That was Jonathan Toews: Captain of the high school soccer team, president of the student council, son of the mayor. Basically, everything Patrick wasn’t.

“Can I help you?” Patrick said, trying not to flinch when all of the boys -- the soccer team and assorted groupies -- quieted at the same moment, making his voice ring out loud in the otherwise empty lobby. He cleared his throat. “Did you guys want some popcorn?”

“Uh,” Toews looked around and, when there were several nods, ordered four buckets of popcorn, eight bottles of water, and a Milk Duds.

“Milk Duds are for losers,” Patrick Sharp said, stepping up and flashing a big smile at Patrick. Patrick just stared back at him. “Losers like this guy,” he jerked a thumb at Toews. “Can I have a Sourpatch Kids?” Toews pushed Sharp aside, but he nodded when Patrick held up the box.

“Score!” Sharp said, kissing Toews on the cheek and dancing off when Toews took a menacing step towards him.

Patrick snorted, totally not charmed by their antics, and set to work making all the buckets of popcorn. He piled everything on the counter, and the group headed out except for Toews, who pulled out a credit card, wincing at the total. 

“Thanks,” he said once Patrick handed him back his card, then hesitated. “Do you go to United High? You look familiar.”

“Yep,” Patrick said neutrally. “Finishing up my junior year.”

“Me, too!” Toews said earnestly. “I’m Jonny and your name is Patrick, right?”

“What it says on the badge,” Patrick said, gesturing to his chest.

“Uh, no, actually it doesn’t,” Jonny said. When Patrick looked down, sure enough, his nametag read _Pootrick._

“Goddamnit,” Patrick growled, ripping the nametag off his chest and glaring at Tyler where he was taking tickets a few yards away. “Fucker.”

“Well, I, uh. I guess I should go,” Jonny said, shifting awkwardly when Patrick looked back at him, and Patrick’s cheeks flamed. “You know, make sure there’s some popcorn left for me.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, probably,” Patrick nodded. “Thanks for telling me about the, uh.” He gestured at himself.

“No problem,” Jonny said with a small smile. “Thanks again for the popcorn.”

Once Jonny was gone, Patrick sagged against the counter. He’d been noticing Jonathan Toews for the past several years, even though he shouldn’t have been looking, and never had any classes with the kid. They were on different academic tracks, came from different backgrounds, moved in different groups. He’d always noticed him, though. Jonny was hard to miss.

Patrick just hadn’t noticed how beautiful his eyes were.

2 _Me Before You_

A week later, Jonny was back, and with a lot fewer people. Actually, he was only with one other person.

Alicia Monroe, captain of the girl’s tennis team and Toew’s latest girlfriend, if rumors around school were to be believed; and -- judging by the way Alicia was clinging to Toews’s hand -- they were.

“What can I get you?” Patrick didn’t look at Jonny, just kept his gaze focused on Alicia. They’d had a class together last year, and she was nice. He probably shouldn’t be wanting to punch her in her perfect teeth.

“Oh, I don’t want anything, I’m still full from dinner,” Alicia laughed, rubbing her belly, which looked flat to Patrick. When he glanced up, Jonny was rolling his eyes, and Patrick couldn’t help laughing.

“You’re gorgeous, shut up,” Patrick said, because he felt bad that he’d laughed. Alicia wasn’t to blame for how much Patrick resented her for being Jonny’s girl.

“Aw, thanks, Pat,” Alicia said, her cheeks pink, and when Jonny beamed at Patrick, Patrick felt his own cheeks flush red.

“So, uh. Popcorn?” Patrick asked waving the tub he’d grabbed at them.

“Definitely,” Jonny said, still smiling. “Make it a large, just in case you want some later,” he said to Alicia. “And two waters.”

Patrick added extra butter to Jonny’s popcorn, and when he returned to the counter Alicia was gone. He took Jonny’s money and handed back his change, mostly succeeding at not reacting when their fingers brushed and a shock of heat went through his body at the contact.

Jonny was watching him a little from under his lashes as he gathered up his food and then he stopped, chewing on his top lip before saying simply, “Thanks, Patrick.”

Alicia came out of the bathroom then, grinned at Patrick, and hauled Jonny off to the theater. 

Patrick forced himself to smile at the next customer in line, but the rest of the night he mostly spent distracted and a little melancholy.

3 _Now You See Me 2_

“Can I have a small popcorn?” Patrick turned around to see Jonny standing at the counter.

“We’ve gotta stop meeting like this, man,” Patrick said. “You must really like movies. You’re here all the time.”

“Am not,” Jonny mumbled, his ears getting pink. “There’s nothing else to do in the summer.”

“Sure, sure,” Patrick said. “Also I’m here, so.”

“Like I’d come to the theater just to see a loser like you,” Jonny said, flushing bright red.

“Your mom’s a loser,” Patrick chirped.

“Wow, you have zero chirping game,” Jonny said.

“Your mom has no chirping game,” Patrick said, giggling. Jonny laughed, and it made Patrick’s stomach flip. He did that. “So, just the popcorn? No Milk Duds?”

“You remembered,” Jonny said, grinning and pink, and wow, was Patrick gone for this guy.

Jonny lingered at the counter, laughing at Patrick’s ridiculous comments about the other theatergoers and taking turns guessing their orders -- _“picking popcorn every time is too cheating, Jon”_ \-- until Patrick realized it was time for his break. Which meant that Jonny’s movie had just started. “You need to go,” Patrick said, pushing Jonny toward the theater. “You’re missing your movie!”

“Does anything happen at the beginning?” Jonny went easily enough, but he stopped in front of the open doors of the theater.

“I don’t know, man, I never see the movies,” Patrick said, distracted by Tyler making obscene gestures at them from behind Jonny.

“You work at a movie theater, but you don’t go to movies?”

“No, I just - we have to wait until they’ve been out two weeks before they let us go for free, and I don’t know, I just like watching a movie with a big crowd of people or I may as well just wait for the DVD.”

“Oh,” Jonny said. They stood there awkwardly for a long moment, Jonny looking like he wanted to say something, Patrick unsure whether to push Jonny into his movie or continue to linger in the hall. Jonny finally broke the weird tension. “Well, I guess - see you later?”

“Sure,” Patrick said, feeling unaccountably disappointed. “See ya.”

When he got to the break room, Tyler was there, and having to suffer through an afternoon of blowjob jokes took any lingering happiness from Jonny’s visit away.

4 _Finding Dory_

Summer had just started and Patrick was already bored. The theater was dead: only a handful of kids and their exhausted mothers had come in today, and since he was selling tickets, he had basically nothing to do. He didn’t even need to sweep out the theaters -- there were six of them -- but only the one showing _Finding Dory_ even had anyone sit in it today.

So he could be forgiven for being startled when Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews walked up to him with two six year-old girls chattering next to them, holding their hands.

“Let me guess,” Patrick said, ducking to smile at the girl holding Jonny’ hand. She grinned back at him swinging their hands back and forth. “Are you guys seeing _Dory_?”

“Yep,” she said brightly. “It’s my second time but Jonny wanted to come so I said I’d go with him.”

Patrick glanced back up at Jonny, who was looking at the little girl with betrayal. “Candace, we, uh.” He stopped, rubbing his neck, which was mottled and red. “Remember how we weren’t going to mention that to anyone?”

“Oh yeah!” Candace nodded happily. “I won’t, I promise, Jonny!”

Patrick couldn’t help the way the corner of his mouth ticked up at the sight of Jonathan -- Jonny -- Toews leveling a death glare at a six year-old girl.

“First time for you?” Patrick asked Jonny, ringing up their tickets.

“Why yes it is,” Sharp responded, and Patrick looked over at him. He was grinning widely and Patrick narrowed his eyes at him. “He’s just been dying to come see it. Haven’t you, Jonny?”

“I - we should get popcorn!” Jonny blurted, pulling Candace into the theater while Sharp finished paying for them. He popped his head back out a moment later. “Uh, thanks, Patrick!”

Patrick waved a little lamely at him, and Jonny smiled and waved back.

“Oh my God,” Sharp said under his breath, but he just shook his head when Patrick looked at him. “Nothing, just, uh. He’s a good guy, even if I think he’s taken a few too many headers, if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t,” Patrick said flatly. “I don’t follow sports.”

“Oh,” Sharp said. “If you don’t follow sports, what do you like to do for fun?”

“You mean when I’m not swamped at work, dealing with hordes of moviegoers?”

Sharp laughed and pocketed his change, taking the tickets. “Yeah, seems pretty dead.”

“I’m so bored,” Patrick admitted. “But, uh. I like to play chess.”

“Hmm,” Sharp said, but he didn’t say anything else, just smiled that frankly terrifying grin and disappeared into the theater.

“What the fuck,” Patrick whispered to himself, baffled. “No, really. What the fuck?”

No one answered, of course, and Patrick pulled out his paperback, trying to concentrate on the words and not how cute Jonny Toews had looked holding Candace’s hand.

5 _Central Intelligence_

The next time Patrick saw Jonny, he was alone, and he had a small rectangular box under one arm. Patrick was working the concession stand again, but they were about as busy as they’d been the last few times Jonny had come in, and when Jonny plunked the box down on the counter, Patrick looked at him quizzically.

“Whatcha got there, Toews?” 

“Uh, Jonny,” Jonny said, “you can call me Jonny. Or Tazer. And this is a chess set.”

“A chess set,” Patrick said, frowning a little.

“Yeah, I was uh. Wondering if you wanted to maybe play?”

What? “You want to play chess?” 

Jonny nodded. 

“With me?” 

Jonny nodded again, his cheeks flushing.

“Yeah, uh. Sharpy said you were bored at work and I thought - Maybe we could play chess? I mean. If you want.”

“You came to the movie theater to play chess?”

“Yeah,” Jonny said, like it was that simple. Like it was normal. “Well, to play chess with you.” His cheeks were pink, and he was wearing a soft smile.

Patrick knew Jonny probably didn’t mean the same thing as Patrick wanted him to, but it still made him happiness fizz inside of him. “I’m on break in ten minutes,” Patrick said, biting on his lip to keep his face under control.

“Cool,” Jonny said, pointing over his shoulder at the small group of chairs near the front door that no one ever sat in. “Can we sit over there?”

“Sure. Do you want me to get some popcorn?” Patrick asked. Jonny nodded. “I’m gonna make a special batch, give me five minutes.” 

He brought two huge containers of popcorn over to Jonny, who’d already set up the chess board. 

“This is amazing,” Jonny said after his first handful, his eyes wide. He threw some more into his mouth and moaned. That spark of happiness in Patrick flared into something with a lot more heat and he had to look away so he didn’t do something stupid like climb in his lap.

“Did you really make this?”

“Yep, it’s my secret recipe,” Patrick said, leaning forward and whispering. “Tons of butter and salt.”

They talked for a long time before Patrick worked up the nerve to ask how Alicia was.

“Oh, uh. We kinda broke up?”

“Is that a question?” Patrick felt something happy kick up inside of himself.

“No, we broke up,” Jonny said definitively, glancing at Patrick and then away again just as quickly. “She’s great but - I kinda decided I like someone else better.”

“Oh, yeah?” The elation Patrick’d felt receded at Jonny’s words. “Who?”

Jonny just looked at Patrick and - _oh._

“Oh,” Patrick said shyly.

“Yeah, but.” Jonny swallowed. “Not sure how he feels about it yet.”

“Oh,” Patrick said again. “I, uh. I think he probably feels the same?”

“Probably?”

“I mean, don’t get a big head, but you’re a pretty good catch,” Patrick said, looking up at Jonny and then laughing. “So if I had to guess, I’d say there’s an excellent chance he feels the same.”

“Awesome,” Jonny said, ducking his head. “That’s - that would be awesome.”

When Patrick’s break was over, he looked down at the chessboard. They’d been so busy talking that they’d never even started a game, and he winced in apology. “Sorry, I - maybe we can play again?”

“No, it was - this was great!” Jonny said, rubbing the back of his head, suddenly looking tense as he walked Patrick back to the concession stand. “But, uh. Maybe not here, though? Maybe we could go out sometime?”

“I would - I would love that,” Patrick said, and when Jonny smiled, he couldn’t help grinning back.

“Great!” Jonny said, his body visibly relaxing. “Great.”

+1 _Star Trek Beyond_

“A movie,” Patrick said, side-eyeing Jonny. “I honestly can’t believe you’re taking me to a movie for our first date.”

“Yeah?” Jonny said, pocketing their ticket stubs and escorting Patrick into the darkened theater. “Why?”

“Because I work in a theater,” Patrick said, the _‘you dumbass’_ going unspoken. “I can see a movie any time I want.”

“But you never do,” Jonny said, annoyingly logical. “You said yourself you don’t want to go when the theater is half empty.”

“But - “

“Pat, you said you were excited to see the new _Star Trek_ and I know you won’t be able to see it, like, forever -” 

“For two weeks!”

“Two weeks is forever!” Jonny protested, and Patrick made a face at him. “It is!”

“God, you’re a dumbass,” Patrick said, but he knocked his shoulder against Jonny’s. “But thanks.”

“Popcorn?” Jonny asked, handing the bucket at Patrick, his cheeks still pink.

“Duh,” Patrick said popping a handful of kernels in his mouth. When the opening music started to swell, Patrick watched Jonny’s hand dip into the bucket for more popcorn, he quickly followed suit, tangling their hands together and pulling them out to rest on the armrest, popcorn forgotten.

“Patrick,” Jonny said, voice awed.

“Shhh,” Patrick said, letting his cheeks dimple, “I’m trying to watch a movie here. Unless - Did you want the popcorn?”

“No, this is good,” Jonny said quietly. “I don’t really like popcorn.”

“Dude, you bought so much popcorn from me!”

“Patrick,” Jonny said, squeezing their hands together, “it was never about the popcorn.”


End file.
